Mosul

"Mosul" isn't the kind of easy, sentimental TV viewing often provided during the holidays, but it is a potent reminder of the deadly struggles and sacrifices some people have endured to earn their freedom.

This is one of the best movies of 2020.

Some of Carnahan's choices rely on certain Western stereotypes to underscore the awfulness of the Islamic State ... but what Mosul gets right more often is its prioritization of the Iraqi perspective, and the weight of all this violence.

Balances admirable ambition (it's an American film, but the characters speak Arabic) with the cruder goosing strategies and red-meat dialogue of a revenge picture.

It's well-made and engrossing.

Favors a sense of you-are-there authenticity over any kind of deeper characterization or geopolitical context. The result is generically gripping but ultimately not something that lingers.

Even if you find yourself wanting more out of the experience, Mosul offers a humanising look at post-2003 Iraq, with a powerful Oscar-worthy performance from Iraqi actor Suhail Dabbach.

An Iraq War movie that's actually about Iraqis.

Writer/director Matthew Michael Carnahan has crafted a spare and purposeful narrative in which character and incident are allowed to tell their own story without heavy-handed editorialising.

Bessa has terrific presence as the newbie through whose eyes we enter this extreme situation.... Dabbach adds engaging personality touches to the hard-nosed Jasem... One partcular standout is Elgadi as a mercurial colonel in another militia.